This invention relates to an apparatus for processing document data including voice data, in which document data constituting document blocks are stored together with voice data, and voice data pertaining to a document block is output together with the document block, when the document data is read out for such purposes as the formation and correction of the document.
With the development of data processing techniques, document processing apparatuses have been developed, which can receive document blocks, such as character rows constituting sentences, drawings, tables, images, etc., and edit these document blocks in such a way as to form documents. In such apparatuses, the document data obtained by editing is usually visually displayed as an image display, the correction of the document or like operation being performed while monitoring the display.
There has also been an attempt to make use of voice data during the process of correcting a document. More specifically, by this approach, voice data pertaining to sentences and representing the vocal explanation of drawings, tables, etc., are input, together with the sentences, drawings, tables, etc., and such voice data is utilized for such purposes as the correction and retrieval of the document. In this case, voice data pertaining to the document image displayed is recorded on a tape recorder or the like. However, such voice data can only be recorded for one page of a document, at most. Therefore, in the process altering or correcting a document, situation occur wherein voice data no longer coincide with the equivalent position(s) of a page, following alteration or correction. In such cases, it is then necessary to re-input the voice data. In other words, since it has hitherto been difficult to shift the voice data so that it corresponds to re-located and/or corrected character data or to simply execute correction, deletion, addition, etc., when correcting and editing documents, voice data pertaining to the documents cannot be utilized effectively via this method.
Meanwhile, techniques have been developed for the analog-to-digital conversion of voice data and for editing digital data by coupling it to a computer system. However, no algorithm has yet been established for an overall process of forming documents by combining document data and voice data. For this reason, it is impossible to freely add voice data for desired document data.